Kennesaw State completed one of the most impressive year-over-year turnarounds in college football history with a win over Jacksonville State in the Conference USA Championship. They were intercepted by Alabama police during an attempted postgame flag plant.
It got tense but, fortunately, it did not get physical.
This kind of flag plant altercation has become a trend in college football in recent years. The situation often escalates to something much bigger than it needs to be.
Kennesaw State won the Conference USA Championship.
Kennesaw State is the is third-largest public research university in the state of Georgia. It enrolls approximately 50,000 students.
The Owls are new(er) to college football. They only started to explore a program in 2009. They played their first game in the fall of 2015.
Despite its youth, Kennesaw State won three Big South Conference championships in 2017, 2018 and 2021 at 12-2, 11-2 and 11-2. It made the jump from the Football Championship Subdivision to the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2024.
The Owls were terrible during their first year as an FBS program and won only two games.
Head coach Brian Bohannon was fired. Jerry Mack was hired.
He immediately turned things around. Kennesaw State went 9-3 during the regular season in 2025 to reach the CUSA Championship game on Friday night. It defeated Jacksonville State 19-15.
Alabama police prevented a flag plant.
The celebration was on for the Owls as soon as the clock hit zero.
Put Kennesaw State in the playoffs pic.twitter.com/GiFYEOqfCl
— Tim (@tmcgowa3) December 6, 2025
Coach Mack was estatic.
Kennesaw State had a 2-10 record just a year ago…
— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) December 6, 2025
This year, they finish 10-3 and are @ConferenceUSA Champions 🏆
First year head coach Jerry Mack led the Owls to their first ever conference title. pic.twitter.com/1e1i2gdbu3
The initial celebration remained fairly tame. However, the Kennesaw State players lingered on the field at Jacksonville State University as they waited for the trophy presentation and that gave them the idea to plant their flag at the Gamecocks’ 50-yard-line.
They were not allowed to do so.
An Alabama state trooper — fully armed — stepped in to prevent the flag plant. He stood in the way of the Owls as they advanced toward the logo, which led to some minor pushing and shoving. It was not particularly cordial. A team staffer eventually stepped in to break things up.
Jacksonville State police didn’t take too kindly to Kennesaw State players planting the flag after the Conference USA Championship Game pic.twitter.com/Sr4g4LLgGD
— Barrett Sallee 🇺🇸 (@BarrettSallee) December 6, 2025
Neither the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency nor Kennesaw State University issued a statement about the minor postgame incident. The flag plant was unsuccessful.